the goan I network
MARGAO
With deadlines for implementation of the ban on plastic bags in the commercial capital going abegging, the Margao Municipal Council has now decided to invite the leaders of the market traders association and give them three-month deadline to exhaust their stock by December 31.
The civic body has also decided to call for a special meeting in the near future to discuss the burning issues of waste segregation and to shortlist the bidder for the supply of labourers for the door-to-door waste collection.
Margao Municipal Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai accepted a suggestion made by the media to invite the leaders of the various market associations for discussions and to point blank tell them to exhaust the stock of plastic bags by the year-end before the civic body goes all out against the banned plastic bags. “The Council had in the past set many a deadline to put an end to the plastic bags below 40 micron size. However, we have not been able to achieve the objective for the simple reason that the traders had been insisting that they have huge stock of plastic bags and which will take them time to dispose of,” she said.
Babita pointed out that giving the traders and vendors three-month time to exhaust the plastic bags with them is adequate before the Municipal staff starts cracking a whip against the traders and vendors selling plastic bags.
MMC Chief Officer Siddivinayak Naik further pointed out that the anti-plastic drive has been hit by manpower constraints since the election authorities have roped in quite a number of civic employees for the BLO duties. “Our municipal inspectors, who head the anti-plastic drives in the city, have been roped in for the BLO work. We are handicapped to take up the work on a day-to-day basis for want of staff,” Naik added.
Meanwhile, the MMC chairperson said that the Council will soon take a decision on shortlisting of the bidder for door-to-door waste collection. She said the question of issuing the work order for the 45 labourers required for the door-to-door waste collection in the seven wards will be taken up with the Chief Officer so that these labourers are not left in the lurch for want of sanction.
MMC engineer Agostinho Mesquita, while briefing the MMC Chairperson on the door-to-door waste collection, said the civic body has been able to send two truck loads of plastic waste to Karnataka after segregation. “We can take waste segregation forward in the city provided the labourers are issued the work order or else no one will come forward to take up the work in the future,” Mesquita told the chairperson.
Woman claims made to ‘suffer’ to obtain repair licence
MARGAO: MMC Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai and Chief Officer Siddivinayak Naik were left embarrassed after a woman claimed in the presence of the media that she has been made to suffer for months just to obtain a repair licence from the civic body.
The MMC chairperson, however, later insisted that scrutiny of the file has revealed that the file was cleared by the Technical section on September 27. She further stated that there were several notings put up on the file since the time of former chief officer Johnson Fernandes, indicating that there was no delay in processing the file as claimed by the woman.
The woman took everyone by surprise when she alleged that an official had asked her to pay an amount of Rs 20,000 to clear the file, leaving both the chairperson and the chief officer an embarrassed lot.
“The file was moved in the Margao Municipal Council by my husband, who has passed away without getting the licences. Now, I have been the rounds of the civic body for the last several months, but the repair licence has not been forthcoming under one pretext or the other,” the woman told the chairperson.
She said that she would have no other option than to go ahead and start the repairs without the Council nod in the event the harassment continues.
Both the chairperson and the chief officer sympathised with the woman and questioned the official over the delay in granting her the repair licence. The duo told the officer there’s no harm in issuing the repair licence, adding that the issues concerning the ownership should be settled by the parties in other forums.
“Since the woman levelled some serious charges, we called for the file for inspection and it was revealed that the file was processed at different stages since the time of former chief officer, Johnson Fernandes. I do not think there’s inordinate delay by the official. Since the file is now put up before the chief officer for final approval, the issue should be hopefully addressed now,” Babita added.
